In the past few days, prominent advocates for Louis van Gaal as a possible successor to Hansi Flick have increased. Among others, his former players from FC Bayern, especially Bastian Schweinsteiger and Philipp Lahm, suggested the Dutchman as the new German national coach. Now long-time national player Michael Ballack also spoke out in favor of van Gaal.
Ballack, who played 98 times for Germany and was runner-up in the world championships in 2002, sees the 72-year-old coaching veteran as the ideal person for the national coaching position.
“You should look to the best. I would take an experienced man – and Louis van Gaal is an exceptional coach. He’s certainly not an easy guy, but that’s not a bad thing. I think the team needs new input after these long years with Jogi Löw and Hansi Flick,” said Ballack in an interview with “kicker”.
According to the former midfielder, van Gaal “covers almost everything that is needed. He is a person of respect, has experienced everything and knows the complete range of coaching.” The ex-Bayern coach has already been active as a national coach three times, as he looked after the Dutch selection as a bond coach in three different terms and took part in the World Cup in Qatar with Elftal last year.
Van Gaal as the first foreign national coach?
The only thing that would be unusual at first would be the fact that van Gaal is not a German but a Dutch citizen, Ballack admitted to the specialist magazine: “We still have to get used to that.”
In Germany’s 110-year international history, there had never been a foreign national coach.
At the Winter World Cup in Qatar, van Gaal and the Netherlands only failed in a penalty shootout against eventual world champions Argentina.